


Porcupines and Promises

by StellaLuna365



Series: Anchors in Oceans of Embers and Ash [4]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Caring Andrew Minyard, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gen, It's literally adorable, M/M, Porcupines, Soft Andrew Minyard, Soft Neil Josten, Soft Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, drunk Neil, it's cute, so much soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:46:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29367984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellaLuna365/pseuds/StellaLuna365
Summary: Neil gets tipsy during a game of truth or dare with the Foxes, and his truth is what animal he thinks best describes Andrew. It's not the answer anyone's expecting....Andrew Minyard loves his idiot.It's literally so cute. Just. Agh. Hehe
Relationships: Neil Josten & Andrew Minyard, Neil Josten & The Foxes (All For The Game), Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Series: Anchors in Oceans of Embers and Ash [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2046821
Comments: 14
Kudos: 421





	Porcupines and Promises

Promises and Porcupines

Neil loves animals.

He’s always loved animals. In the few shaded memories of normalcy quivering in pockets of a lifetime of fear and trauma, he remembers the picture books on display for the guests who came inside, who had to know them as a normal family. His favorite was a picture book on animals, that he would read on the few occasions he was left alone long enough to do so.

He remembers precious little of the book, besides his affinity to animals sparked from the colorful pictures and interesting facts, but he remembers a surprising amount about porcupines.

He’s always found porcupines interesting, because four-year-old Nathaniel felt second-hand indignation on their behalf. Everyone saw them as these prickly balls of pain—as soon as you got too close, it would shoot its needles at you, or something. Neil remembers the useless fact, though, that the actual truth was that the needles were just very loosely attached to the body in the first place, and stuck very easily to whatever touched the tip.

If another creature was stuck, it was actually their fault for getting too close—the porcupines couldn’t control it.

Nathaniel also thought they were interesting because when they felt threatened, they curled up into a ball with only the needles on the outside, to protect the soft, adorable part on the inside.

Neil thinks it’s a little stupid now, but it’s a rare, warm memory that he likes to remember from his bloodied childhood. It’s a stupidly specific piece of information he has no use for, but porcupines always bring a smile to his face on the run, in dark apartments, in the passenger seat of a car with his mother’s hands white around the steering wheel.

The first time Neil gets drunk, porcupines gain a new meaning.

…

It’s with the Foxes the first time he gets drunk. He can’t bring himself to drink at Eden’s yet—it’s far too many unknown people, far too many bodies in a crowded, too-dark place, and he can’t. Andrew never pushes him. Still, tonight he decided to try drinking a little bit, much to Nicky’s delight. Andrew promised to stay sober.

“Thank you,” Neil had said, a smile on his face, because he knew he’d be safe with Andrew.

Andrew just barely refrained from rolling his eyes. “Don’t be stupid.”

Neil is undeniably tipsy, and he’s occupying himself playing with Andrew’s calloused fingers, after obtaining a “yes.” Neil can tell that Andrew isn’t exactly enthralled with the drunken game of Truth or Dare transpiring around them, but he’s content to sit with Neil, and Neil is content to listen to the carefree conversation of his family around him.

“Neil. _Neil_ ,” Dan pesters until Neil slowly looks up, blinking thickly. “Oh, honey, you _are_ tipsy. It’s your turn.”

Neil binks again. “My turn?”

“Truth or dare? The game we’ve been playing for forty minutes? The one that’s closed three bets and made Allison almost $700?”

“Oh. I was listening,” Neil defends. Andrew’s fingers move slightly against his, but still after a moment. It makes Neil smile. “I didn’t know I was playing.”

“What part of ‘family game night’ did you not get?” Nicky drawls, words thick and slurred as he nurses his umpteenth concoction of the night. “Truth or dare?”

Neil doesn’t think he’s coordinated enough to do much standing or moving right now, so he chooses truth to be on the safe side. It’s very different from his and Andrew’s game of truths, but he still feels Andrew’s eyes on him regardless, a warm buzz of alcohol in his blood as he feels his usual defenses weaken. Andrew is here, so he’s safe.

“Um…oh! Okay, okay, what animal do you think best describes Andrew?” Nicky asks, eyes alight as he waits expectantly.

Neil blinks, belatedly realizing that everyone seems disproportionately interested in the answer. Neil glances at Andrew, who is staring at him with unimpressed, blank eyes, but Neil grins. From the twitch of his fingers, the spark of curiosity in his eyes, he wants to know, too.

Neil thinks for a moment. Andrew isn’t soft, but he isn’t nearly as abrasive as everyone thinks he is. Well—he is. But—no, he definitely is, Neil decides. But underneath that is Neil’s reason, life, purpose, no matter what comes or goes or changes. Andrew is so easily hurt, so easily affected by the things around him, and so, so good of convincing people that he is nothing but a stone with skin.

Neil knows different, and a warm childhood memory becomes a memory of Andrew, and the warmth becomes a pleasant, present fire that he knows will never dwindle.

“A porcupine,” Neil says resolutely, nodding once to himself to affirm his answer.

Andrew blinks at him, utter blankness in his eyes that Neil interprets as surprise, and a little bit of confusion.

“Definitely a porcupine.”

The rest of his family laugh, and say that fits, because Andrew is Andrew, and they leave it at that and move on. But Neil smiles sleepily at Andrew, and Andrew knows that there’s something more than Neil’s drunken impulse behind that unique conclusion.

Andrew asks later. “Why the fuck did you call me a porcupine?”

The words are flat and toneless, and Neil can hear no anger, just genuine confusion.

“Because porcupines are _cool_ ,” Neil says as Andrew pulls off his socks and tosses them away as Neil watches, a little more than tipsy and swaying where he sits on the edge of the bed. “And it’s a perfect fit. You know that—that porcupines don’t actually shoot needles? They actually—” _yawn_ “—actually get stuck really easily, that’s all. And it’s only when they try to protect themselves, because you know, the belly and face and stuff is actually really soft and adorable and sensitive. And so they use the spikes when they curl up to, to protect themselves. And did I mention they’re adorable?”

Andrew had started off listening with placating attention, but as Neil speaks, he can see the shift in Andrew’s eyes, the indignation and the surprise and the confusion and the _tiny_ hint of _fear_ in the micro expressions of his eyes, the twitch of his lips, the flick of his fingers.

Neil grins drunkenly at him. “Fits you perfect. You’re a porcupine. I love porcupines.”

Andrew goes very still.

Neil yawns, and thinks he might’ve messed up, so he stretches out a clumsy hand. “No or yes? Wait. Um—yes or—”

Andrew has crossed the room and kisses the next words off his lips with enough force to send Neil teetering backwards, but he’s caught by the warm hand on the back of his neck, just like always when he begins to fall.

“You’re a cool porcupine,” Neil says with the first breath he gets, not really realizing it when Andrew shoves at his shoulder to make him lie down, curling up on Andrew’s bunk as Andrew breathes deeper than normal, the closest to a sigh he can come. Andrew drags the sheet and blanket up over him, and Neil feels his eyes start to close, his hand snagging the hem of Andrew’s shirt when he feels him move.

Andrew pauses, and Neil is half asleep. “I’m not leaving.”

“Kay,” Neil smiles. “Mm. What animal am I?” It’s a mumbled mess of words, thick with alcohol and sleep and content safety, but Andrew always understands.

There’s a long pause, and Neil is nearly asleep when he hears soft words. “A fucking junkie,” Andrew whispers, punctuated by soft fingers in his hair and the ghost of lips on his forehead. “And a rabbit.”

…

Three days later, they find a stuffed porcupine outside their door.

Andrew is ready to commit murder until he sees the sun-bright grin light up Neil’s face.

Then, and only then, does Andrew begrudgingly allow it to stay.

And when Neil decides resolutely to name it Joseph, Andrew promises then and there that he will never, ever let his rabbit go.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Comments make me happy!


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